South Dakota
Biden to announce U.S. will construct a port on Gaza coast to deliver humanitarian aid • South Dakota Searchlight
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is expected to use his State of the Union address Thursday night to announce that the U.S. military will build port infrastructure on the Gaza Strip coast to allow humanitarian aid to arrive by sea.
Senior White House officials briefed reporters earlier in the day on the plan that they say will require no American boots on the ground in Gaza, where starvation after five months of the Israel-Hamas war has reached disastrous levels, nongovernmental agencies warn.
Rather, an unspecified number of U.S. troops will construct what officials described as a pier or causeway from an offshore military vessel.
“The U.S. military has unique capabilities, and they can do things from just offshore that are extraordinary,” a senior White House official said on the call. “And so that is the concept of operations that the president has been briefed on that he is going to authorize and then we will work here over the coming days to get this underway.”
The plan will be done in partnership with allies, including with the Israelis who will provide security on the ground and the United Nations and other nongovernmental organizations that will coordinate distribution of shipments, Biden administration officials said.
The U.S. construction will enable delivery of shipments from Cyprus, the Mediterranean island nation that initially proposed the plan last year.
“This new significant capability will take a number of weeks to plan and execute,” a senior official said, without providing a specific timeline.
“The forces that will be required to complete this mission are either already in the region or will begin to move there soon. We look forward to working with our close partners and allies in Europe, the Middle East and beyond to build a coalition of countries that will contribute capabilities and funding for this initiative,” the official said.
Biden’s announcement comes a week after more than 100 Palestinians died and hundreds were injured in a rush to aid trucks along a coastal road just southwest of Gaza City. Palestinian health authorities maintain many died from bullets fired by Israeli forces, which Israel denies. Other witnesses have said most killed were run over by trucks.
The United Nations warned this week that hunger in the Gaza Strip “has reached catastrophic levels.”
The agency is pushing for a plan to transport aid into the Gaza Strip’s northern area via a military access road. White House officials told reporters that the U.N. confirmed Thursday that a first delivery using the northern route will occur this week.
Pressures on administration
Biden continues to face pressure as negotiations over a temporary cease-fire and releases of Israeli hostages have stalled.
Voters in numerous primary states cast “uncommitted” ballots as recently as the Democratic 2024 Super Tuesday presidential nominating contests, apparently as a protest of Biden’s continued support of Israel’s bombardment in the Gaza Strip.
While just a tiny fraction of the delegate count, Biden lost 11 delegates to “uncommitted” in Minnesota Tuesday, seven in Hawaii Wednesday and two in Michigan last month.
White House officials said Thursday the onus is on Hamas. The Gaza-based militant group has so far refused to agree to a deal during ongoing negotiations in Cairo, Egypt.
“It is essential that we see a temporary cease-fire in Gaza. The path to a cease-fire is straightforward,” a senior White House official said. “There could be at least a six-week cease-fire today if Hamas would agree to release a defined category of vulnerable hostages, including women, elderly, sick and the wounded. That deal is on the table now and has been for more than the past week.”
Thursday marks five months of fighting in the Gaza Strip after Hamas militants stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 in Israel and initially taking roughly 200 hostages into the Hamas-controlled territory.
The Gaza health ministry estimates the death toll in the small strip of land bordered by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea has surpassed 30,000.
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South Dakota
SD Lottery Powerball, Lotto America winning numbers for March 4, 2026
The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 4, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 4 drawing
07-14-42-47-56, Powerball: 06, Power Play: 4
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from March 4 drawing
33-38-39-47-51, Star Ball: 07, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Dakota Cash numbers from March 4 drawing
02-18-22-30-32
Check Dakota Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 4 drawing
12-13-36-39-58, Bonus: 03
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
South Dakota
South Dakota lawmakers push bill criminalizing deepfakes nearer to governor’s desk
PIERRE — A bill from South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley to criminalize the creation or sharing of deepfakes was amended this week to more clearly define what constitutes nudity before it reaches Gov. Larry Rhoden’s desk.
The amendment, added on the floor of the House of Representatives, came in response to concerns about unintended consequences.
Senate Bill 41 creates a class of felony crime for the creation or distribution of images digitally altered to depict a person in a state of nudity or involved in a sexually explicit act, commonly referred to as deepfakes.
In testimony in the House Judiciary Committee on Monday in Pierre, Jackley pointed to the case of Mark Rathbun, a former Division of Motor Vehicles employee who is accused of taking images of women and girls from state databases and creating sexual images.“This is real, and it’s something that we unfortunately are seeing happen in our state,” Jackley said.
The judiciary committee voted 8-3 to send the bill to the House floor but not before a discussion on its potential to criminalize political memes.
The bill’s definition of nudity originally encompassed a partial state of nudity. Fort Pierre Republican Rep. Will Mortenson asked Jackley if that would include a fabricated topless photo. Jackley said yes. Then Mortenson asked if a fabricated image of Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker without a shirt, if shared by President Donald Trump on social media, would put the president in line for felony charges.
Jackley said a Pritzker image wouldn’t qualify because Pritzker is male, but Mortenson pushed back.
He noted that partially nude fabrications would be a felony if done with the intent to “self-gratify or alarm, annoy, embarrass, harass, invade the privacy of, threaten, or cause emotional, financial, physical, psychological, or reputational harm to that individual.”
Nothing in the bill specified that a person in a digitally fabricated topless image must be female.
“We just said that half-nude is a state of nudity, and so now he’s shirtless, and the point of this is to embarrass this guy,” Mortenson said of his topless Pritzker meme scenario.
Mortenson voted against the bill in committee but brought an amendment Tuesday to define nudity as inclusive of male or female genitalia, buttocks or the female nipple.
The amendment passed, but it did not address every concern about the bill.
Democratic Rep. Kadyn Wittman of Sioux Falls asked Jackley during the bill’s committee hearing why he didn’t use it to enhance penalties for people who film others in states of undress or participating in sexual activity against their will.
That behavior is a felony if it involves the recording of a minor, or if it happens repeatedly. The new penalties for deepfakes would be added to the same chapter of South Dakota law.
“Why is the first time hidden recording a misdemeanor generally, but a digitally fabricated image would automatically be a classified felony,” said Wittman.
Jackley said he feels that the creation of digitally manipulated sexual images, even if they aren’t shared, signals “significant criminal intent.” He told South Dakota Searchlight after the committee meeting that he’s open to addressing that issue, but that SB 41’s primary purpose was to target deepfakes.
On the House floor, Wittman was one of two representatives to say the bill’s felony penalties could be unnecessarily harsh in instances where young people make “a stupid decision” and create a deepfake.
“I feel like, in a lot of situations, this bill covers behavior that could be covered by a lower level of offense,” Wittman said.
Supporters countered that the creation of fake nudes can do real psychological damage to real people, and that the state needs to clearly signal that doing so is a serious crime.
“It’s only fun and games until it happens to you,” said Rep. Mary Fitzgerald, R-St. Onge.
The bill passed the House 60-6. It now moves to the state Senate, which passed the bill 32-0 on Jan. 16. The Senate would need to approve the amended version of the bill before it could be delivered to Gov. Larry Rhoden to sign or veto.
South Dakota
SD Lottery Mega Millions, Millionaire for Life winning numbers for March 3, 2026
The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 3, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from March 3 drawing
07-21-53-54-62, Mega Ball: 16
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 3 drawing
09-10-13-25-54, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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